The Oligarchs
Revealed – a daring plot by Eastern European oligarchs to buy frozen assets using offshore companies, international lawyers and Western banks
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit unravels a high-stakes international plot hatched by powerful Eastern European oligarchs to make millions of dollars from a crooked deal. According to one Ukrainian analyst: “It sounds like an agreement between criminal bosses. You can sign it with your blood.” The scheme involves using a web of offshore companies and international lawyers to raid $160m under the noses of the authorities. The money is effectively being stolen for a second time. The funds were initially frozen by Ukraine’s courts after its former president, Viktor Yanukovich, was discovered to have emptied the country’s treasury.